Former Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate says he wants to continue playing, speaking to The Times.

The centre-back has been dogged by injuries throughout his career, and is currently 35-years-old.

He has played only one game this season, in the Capital One Cup, but says he wants to continue at Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and has no intention of giving up yet.

He said: "I’m not looking forward to stopping and I don’t want to. It’s that feeling: I want to be a footballer. I love that feeling, but it has to come to an end some time.

"My body isn’t great and never has been and there were times at Spurs when I nearly retired."

He went onto state he even thought about calling it quits earlier this season after suffering a calf injury, but was talked out of it and is enjoying training again.

Woodgate's time at Tottenham is likely to be recalled particularly fondly over the next month. Spurs play Chelsea in the League Cup final, the first time they have done so since 2008, when the defender scored the winning goal for Tottenham in extra-time, his first ever goal for the club.

To many it will be seen as remarkable that Woodgate is still playing, having endured so many fitness problems in his career.

He was one of the most highly rated defenders of his generation when he broke into the Leeds first team as a youngster, and his ability to extend his career as far as he does speaks volumes about his mental strength and determination, admitting to the paper he would be happy simply to play one more game.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.